High Performance Leadership

What are your top five goals? You might have more than five, but how many can you work on at any given time? I have a calendar-planner (paper, yes I still keep one of those) that has a space for five objectives for each day. That's all. And, it also has a column for priority, and honestly most of the time they are all "A" priorities. That's because I can focus on five. Any more than that, and the "B" priorities don't really hit the list. Because if they do, they aren't getting done anyway. Oh, I do a LOT more than five things each day. But I start with a focus on five goals that I know I need to do. Some are big, some are small; all get done. High performance leaders show the courage to focus on five top goals.  Work those goals. -- doug smith

Who do we lie to the most? Ourselves.  The answer is so easy that every time I ask a group of people at a workshop or webinar it's the first thing they say. We lie to ourselves the most.  "I'm not good enough...fast enough...young enough...good-looking enough...smart enough..." Nonsense. You are enough. We are enough.  So, why lie to ourselves? We're so good at it that we really do fool ourselves, sometimes into immobility. That's not fun. Tell the truth. Start with yourself. Stop lying to yourself first. Once you see how much better that is, it will be much easier to stop lying to anyone else. -- doug smith

Have you ever said anything that you regretted? That expression "put your foot in your mouth" resonates a bit more when you wear size 13's. I do. And yes, I have sometimes said things that I regretted. Because you know what? When you say something that hurts someone do you know when they'll forget it?  Never. They will never forget it. The damage is done, and just keeps on echoing through the years. That's why I've learned (well, OK, I'm working on it) to pause before saying something with an edge, something with anger, something even passive aggressive. The payoff is bad, and lasts forever. Words meant to hurt are better left unsaid. 'nuff said. -- doug smith

Are you feeling a little busy? Are there more problems than you can juggle at once? It feels new, and yet the world has always had unsolved problems waiting for your help. There are more people now, many more, and that does make a difference. Everything is multiplied.  Which makes you even more important than ever. The world will always need centered problem solvers. Are you ready? -- doug smith

True story: when I was much younger I was known to tell a tale or two. They were usually rooted in reality, but I'd embellish the truth to make it more interesting. Like that story I'd tell about my trip to McSorley's in New York when I ran into John Lennon. We had a nice conversation. Except, he wasn't there. I thought of him, and he lived in New York at the time, but seriously was much more likely to be on the other side of town. Go figure. How many times did I tell that tale? Maybe once or twice. Once to my best friend at the time. Did she believe me? Not if she knew me well enough... How about you? Do your fish stories end up with bigger fish than you actually caught? Do you augment reality with some great tales? I got a great gift last December from one of my good friends and fraternity brother, David Spiegel. It's a coffee mug with the saying "Keep telling the stories" written on it. I love it. I don't think that he meant "tell tales."

On the list of skills to brag about, procrastination should be very far down. Unless -- the things we procrastinate on are the things that matter less. That's not how it usually works, though, is it? We procrastinate on things that we don't really want to do, or are afraid of doing, or find inconvenient. Usually, when we procrastinate, we shouldn't. I don't like to hear about my procrastination. Could we please talk about that some other time? -- doug smith

When I worked at GE we were trained that integrity was our most important value, and that it meant following the spirit and letter of the law. No cutting corners. No fudging on the details. Compliance means following the spirit -- the intention -- of the value as well as the written detail. Real leaders never settle for anything that is technically not illegal. The next time you hear someone say "it's not technically illegal" what you might consider is: yes, it is. -- doug smith